


Ghost by the Shore

by alexcat



Series: 2014 Halloween Challenge [10]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 09:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2541968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some sins can never be fully paid for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghost by the Shore

**Author's Note:**

> For elenbarathi

He walked the beach like a ghost. Many had seen him though few recognized him. The ones who did recognize him convinced themselves that he had been a trick of the light, nothing more.

He did not wait in the Hall of Mandos as most thought. His punishment for the things he did, those he’d hurt and even killed, was to walk in Aman until it passed into the mists of time. His punishment was to remember all the elves who had died at his hand or at his behest. 

He could bear them all. He was still strong even in his broken state. He could bear them all but one. 

He looked down where his hand used to be. A dry sob wracked his frame. He had loved his cousin, Fingon, more than he’d ever loved another, even his cursed father. Fingon had saved him and given him a will to live again when he'd cut him down from Thangorodrim. 

But he'd gotten Fingon killed and the only excuses he had were the Silmarils and that damnable oath. The stones had burned his remaining hand as the Balrog fires had burned Fingon. By the time Morgoth’s Balrogs were done with him, there’d been nothing left to bury. 

Maedhros wrapped his ragged cloak about him and shuffled down the beach, a ghost of the mighty elf he’d once been. His memories of Fingon were both his blessing and his curse for the remainder of days. Despite all, he was thankful for those memories. 

~end~


End file.
